Max was secretly grateful to Atlas for swooping to the rescue, and in gratitude tucked his Hand of Miriam back inside his shirt- had he just asked Lenya out? Max honestly didn't know himself. A born introvert, making friends didn't come easily to him, and he wasn't really sure where to draw the line between friendship and- well, that other thing. The tall man arched an eyebrow at the suggestion of maple syrup beer, before giving a shrug and a chuckle. "Sounds a little faddish, but it can't hurt to give it a try. I might miss out on something good if I don't. Maybe sometime you and I can take a drive up to Fredericton and do some shopping?" he suggested with a lopsided grin. Max had known a few vampires back in Seattle- it was far better to have them as friends than it was as enemies.

Lenya, to his relief (or his consternation) accepted his somewhat confused offer of beer with a smile and considerably more grace than he could possibly have managed. "Yeah, that big old Cape Cod, from around the time of World War One. It took a lot of doing to make it livable. The hardest part was getting it to safely accommodate my library. You know what happened to the Hermit of the Rif, no one wants a repeat of that. And the kitchen. I like to cook, it needed better equipment and more space. It's no fun cooking for one, though. Maybe sometime-" his voice faltered as he thought about inviting Lenya over for dinner, unsure of where he was going. Dammit. Not again. This was getting ridiculous. "Maybe sometime I'll fix up breakfast omelettes for the office. And something for you, of course," he hastily added to Atlas.

Other began to come in- a lightly toasted young man, and another vampire. Max, unsure of what to do or say, gave a polite nod and pulled his stuff slightly closer to himself to give them more table space.